1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a T-nut including a sealing member that prevents entry of, for example, a coating, oil, molten resin, or foreign matter into a shaft section.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, when, after driving a T-nut into, for example, a plate material, polyurethane foam is formed on the plate material, or, for example, the plate material is immersed in oil or a coating for coating or surface treatment thereof, if molten resin, the coating, the oil or the like enters a shaft section of the T-nut and adheres to internal threads, the substance that has entered is meshed at locations between the threads. This is an obstacle to screwing the T-nut. Therefore, various measures are taken to prevent the molten resin or the like from entering the shaft section.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-17250 (Patent Document 1) proposes a taped T-nut in which an opening of the T-nut at a side of a first end portion is closed with an adhesive tape. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-183798 (Patent Document 2) proposes a T-nut in which an inner flange that closes an opening at a side of a first end portion is integrally formed using a metallic material that is the same as that forming a shaft section and an outer flange. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-101372 (Patent Document 3) proposes, as shown in FIGS. 23A and 23B, a T-nut 10 in which an opening at a side of a first end portion is sealed with a solid sealing member 10a that is formed of, for example, resin and that has a substantially disc shape.
When conventional T-nuts are driven into a plate or a plate material (such as a table), a driving device, such as that shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, is used. In this type of driving device, in order to prevent lateral displacement of the T-nut that is being driven into, for example, a plate, a guide pin 102 is provided at an end of a bush bar 101 for driving the T-nut into the plate. The driving device is formed so as to prevent lateral displacement of the T-nut by inserting the guide pin 102 into a shaft section from a one-end-side opening of the T-nut.